cannabisnews.com: Pot Shots Traded in Hemp Case
Pot Shots Traded in Hemp Case
Posted by FoM on April 05, 2001 at 08:59:49 PT
By Chris Loos, Tribune-Herald
Source: Hawaii-Tribune Herald
A lawyer representing a pro-marijuana activist accused Hawaii County prosecutors of malicious prosecution Tuesday - but a county attorney called them "dedicated public officials." The dispute is part of a federal lawsuit in which Aaron Anderson is suing the county for $1 million stemming from what he believes is politically motivated prosecution for a felony drug charge in 1992. Police arrested Anderson and Roger Christie in 1991 after a drug-sniffing dog alerted authorities to a package containing 25 pounds of hemp seeds at the Federal Express office in Hilo.
Charges against Christie were dropped eventually, but Anderson went to trial for commercial promotion of marijuana in the second degree, a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine.In federal Judge Kevin Chang's courtroom Tuesday in Honolulu, Anderson's attorney, Steven Strauss, said Anderson ordered a shipment of what he thought were sterile hemp seeds to use in food. Deputy Corporation Council Joseph Kamelamela called the shipment "marijuana seeds."Anderson, wearing a hemp jacket and hemp shoes, sat a few feet from the eight federal jurors Tuesday as the attorneys took turns presenting opening statements."This case is about a lot of things, but first and foremost it's about government power - and we contend the abuse of government power," Strauss said.Former Deputy Prosecutor Kay Iopa obtained a grand jury indictment against Anderson and Christie in 1992, but Pahoa Natural Foods, Long's Drugs, Wal-Mart and Miranda Country Store have bought or sold hemp seeds and have never been charged with any crimes, Strauss said.When two members of Anderson's defense team bought hemp seeds as evidence to present at trial, however, prosecutors threatened them with prosecution, Strauss said.Strauss quoted Iopa from the transcript of a court hearing in 1992: "We're not going to go out, bust the little old lady that's got a bag of bird seeds just because there is one marijuana seed in there," Iopa was quoted as saying. She compared that scenario to "a hemp grower that is very locally, outwardly advocating the legalization of marijuana." During a 1994 meeting in judge's chambers, Circuit Court Judge Greg Nakamura urged the attorneys to settle the case, Strauss said. Strauss told prosecutors that if they stopped the prosecution he wouldn't sue the county for civil rights violations. Iopa refused "unless these two guys stop writing letters to the newspapers about this case," Strauss said.In 1995 Christie was dismissed from the case. Anderson's case went to trial but ended in a mistrial. Prosecuting Attorney Jay Kimura offered Anderson the opportunity to plead guilty to a petty misdemeanor with a maximum of 30 days in jail, Strauss said. In exchange, Kimura allegedly offered to publish a statement that his office would never again prosecute anyone for buying bird seed.Anderson rejected the offer and prosecutors asked the judge to try him again on the felony charge. Judge Nakamura dismissed the case."The government abused its power," Strauss told the court on Tuesday. "They did illegal and unconstitutional things for the wrong reason because they didn't like what Mr. Anderson was doing." Anderson has run for various offices as a Libertarian candidate on a pro-hemp platform. "Can you imagine what it would be like?" Strauss said. "You dedicate your life to a political goal, and you get prosecuted for it?" Strauss asked the federal jury to award Anderson $1 million to send a message to prosecutors. "We condemn the People's Republic of China ... for what they do, and we condemn it here," he said.After Strauss addressed the jurors, Kamelamela told them a different story."This case is not about a big sinister government going after Mr. Anderson," Kamelamela said. "This is about the prosecution of someone who possessed marijuana - not sterilized hemp seeds." The county attorney said he will establish four facts:* Kimura is a policy maker for Hawaii County.* Iopa didn't commit any constitutional violations.* Kimura has no policy about prosecuting someone because of a particular political position.* Anderson's seeds had not been sterilized. Kamelamela said that Anderson's shipment of seeds arrived in a "suspicious looking package" and contained no shipping receipts, making it different from seeds ordered by local stores. "There's nothing suspicious about those packages from the stores. Just doesn't make sense to prosecute the stores," he said.Kamelamela acknowledged Iopa's reference to the little old lady with bird seeds but added, "Maybe a little old lady won't know that the bird seed that she has in her hand is marijuana seeds."Kamelamela told the jury that Iopa's offer to drop the case if Anderson stopped writing letters to the editor was not pressure to do so. "There is really no evidence to show he had to forfeit his right to free speech," he said. "The basis of the prosecution was not motivated to chill his first amendment rights."Kamelamela said that Strauss' $1 million figure is based on speculation. "In the end, what the county's going to be asking for is that we're not responsible for those damages and that there's no liability against the county," he said.Iopa, Kimura, First Deputy Prosecutor Charlene Iboshi, Corporation Counsel Lincoln Ashida, Anderson and Christie are among the witnesses scheduled to testify during the 12-day trial.Source: Hawaii-Tribune Herald (HI) Author: Chris Loos, Tribune-Herald Published: April 4, 2001Copyright: 2001 Hawaii Tribune Herald Contact: editor hawaiitribune-herald.com Website: http://www.hilohawaiitribune.com/ Hawaii Medical Marijuana Institute: http://www.medijuana.com/Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii: http://www.drugsense.org/dpfhi/Dennis Shield's Home Page: http://hialoha.com/konagold/church/index.htmlCannabisNews Hemp Archives: http://cannabisnews.com/news/list/hemp.shtml
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Comment #2 posted by Dan B on April 05, 2001 at 11:00:58 PT:
Integrity
Strauss quoted Iopa from the transcript of a court hearing in 1992: "We're not going to go out, bust the little old lady that's got a bag of bird seeds just because there is one marijuana seed in there," Iopa was quoted as saying. She compared that scenario to "a hemp grower that is very locally, outwardly advocating the legalization of marijuana." The prosecutor, in the above statement, is making her position quite clear: she is not opposed to the "little old lady" (what a horrible stereotype of elderly women, by the way) who feeds hemp seeds to birds, but she is opposed to Mr. Anderson because he advocates a position toward marijuana and hemp that she happens to disagree with. Any judge with so much as a grain of integrity will see through the prosecutor's blatant disregard for the U. S. Constitution and fine the county in accordance with Mr. Anderson's wishes. Okay--I need to get going. Duty calls.Dan B
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Comment #1 posted by observer on April 05, 2001 at 09:26:47 PT
County Prosecutors Praise County Prosecutors
A lawyer representing a pro-marijuana activist accused Hawaii County prosecutors of malicious prosecution Tuesday -- but a county attorney called them "dedicated public officials.""but a county attorney"? A "county attorney" is another word for prosecutor, isn't it? In other words, county prosecutors praised county prosecutors. The whole article seems to put the best face possible on county prosecutor's case.
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